AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* STUDY CONFIRMS CHINA FORCED ABORTION POLICY HAS CREATED GENDER IMBALANCE

* WEST PAPUAN CHURCH OFFICE OCCUPIED BY INDONESIAN POLICE

* THE END OF CHRISTIANITY IN IRAQ?

* HOMOSEXUALS MUST CHANGE SAYS ARCHBISHOP

* GERMAN CHANCELLOR DETERMINED TO INCLUDE VALUES IN NEW EUROPEAN UNION CONSTITUTION

* BOOK CHARACTERS CONVERT TO ISLAM

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STUDY CONFIRMS CHINA FORCED ABORTION POLICY HAS CREATED GENDER IMBALANCE

A new study has confirmed that China’s policies of forcing women to have abortions, sterilizing them and targeting them and their families for persecution has caused a severe gender imbalance that’s resulted in sexually exploiting women, higher crimes and other social concerns.

Conducted by the Institute of Population Studies at Zhejiang University and London’s Institute of Child Health, the study finds men in the Asian nation overwhelmingly outnumber women. The study relied on data from 40,000 women and found that the birth rate dropped from 2.9 children before China enacted its one-child family planning policy in 1979. The study found women above the age of 35 today have 1.94 children and women under the age of 35 have 1.73 children. Both rates are below replacement level for a nation to sustain its population.

The study further found that sex-selection abortions and infanticides have been used to generate boy babies since Chinese culture, especially in rural areas, favours boys over girls. Chinese officials last year failed to approve a ban on sex-selection abortions, but the nation is still planning to continue its crackdown on using ultrasound machines to reveal the sex of an unborn baby for non-medical purposes. Officials found 848 cases of sex-selection abortions occurring as a result of the clinics telling parents of the baby’s gender.

China now has 119 boys for every 100 girls, compared to the normal 103-100 ratio seen in industrialized nations. The imbalance has given rise to massive sex-trafficking and the kidnapping of teenagers and young adults to be forced into marriage. The country has become a nation of bachelors as Chinese men have problems finding potential wives. This has contributed to a rise in crime, prostitution, and other problems.

Some Chinese are selling their girl babies to those seeking girls for their sons. Chinese officials have uncovered massive baby-selling schemes. The poor parents of unwanted newborn girls sell their babies for a little as $8.

Source: LifeNews.com

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WEST PAPUAN CHURCH OFFICE OCCUPIED BY INDONESIAN POLICE

Clergy have demanded the right to run church affairs without intimidation and government interference, after Indonesian police stormed the office of the Gereja Kingmi church synod office in Jayapura on December 28 last year. Two pastors were injured in the incident.

After the intrusion, 400 members of the church gathered outside the office in a peaceful protest. This resulted in the withdrawal of police after 24 hours. Rev. Benny Giay, the Chair of the Kingmi Church Bureau, says the occupation was an unprecedented action by police and amounted to an attack on religious freedom.

During the incident, police accused Rev. Giay and his associate, Rev. Noakh Nawipa, of being involved in an armed attack in August 2002, which resulted in the deaths of two US teachers and one Indonesian. However, Benny Giay is a well-known peace activist in the Papuan non-violence movement and denies all charges. Other accusations include the church’s involvement as the “religious arm” of the OPM – the Free Papua Movement – which supports an armed struggle for Papuan independence.

Previously, the Kingmi Church had ties with an Indonesian parent church, but gained autonomy for its own synod last year. It is thought that authorities have interpreted this as a “separatist” activity encouraging Papuan independence from Indonesia and have therefore targeted the church leaders. Supporters of human rights in Papua are increasingly concerned that in the current climate of oppression, a number of prominent clergymen-already under constant surveillance – are at risk of assassination.

Source: Tears of the Oppressed

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THE END OF CHRISTIANITY IN IRAQ?

Iraq is rapidly becoming a nation of refugees. Sunnis and other minorities are leaving the south, while Shiites have been fleeing the areas around Baghdad and the north. For both the Sunni and Shia civilians caught in this cauldron of violence, the situation is tragic beyond description. However, as bad as things have been for Muslim Iraqis, life inside Iraq has been even more difficult for the Assyrians, who are both Christian and the indigenous people of Iraq. For them the situation has become downright catastrophic.

Glyn Ford, a UK Labor member of the European Parliament and member of the “Save the Assyrians” campaign, recently reported that torture, kidnapping, extortion, harassment, church bombings, forced religious conversion, political disenfranchisement and property destruction are just some of the deliberate human rights violations that are both ruining and taking the lives of Assyrians in Iraq.

Statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees show that around 700,000 Iraqis took refuge in Syria alone between October 2003 and March 2005. Of this number, fully 36 percent were Iraqi Christians, an astounding rate given their small percentage of the overall population of Iraq. In total, over 250,000 Christian refugees are now stranded in Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

Despite the scale of this human tragedy, the Assyrians have largely been left to their own devices. While the Kurds have received millions of dollars in aid following the end of Saddam’s regime, aid to the Assyrians has been almost non-existent. This has resulted in many refugees living in appalling conditions. It was even recently reported that some of the Assyrian refugees in northern Iraq had been reduced to sleeping on bare dirt in Christian cemeteries. The Assyrians have been calling for assistance, but their pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears.

Source: Intercessors for America

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HOMOSEXUALS MUST CHANGE SAYS ARCHBISHOP

The Archbishop of Canterbury has told homosexuals that they need to change their behaviour if they are to be welcomed into the church. Rowan Williams has distanced himself from his one-time liberal support of homosexual relationships and stressed that the tradition and teaching of the Church has in no way been altered by the Anglican Communion’s consecration of its first openly homosexual bishop. The declaration by the Archbishop marks a significant development in the church’s crisis over homosexuals. It has sparked accusations that he has performed an “astonishing” U-turn over the homosexual issue.

Liberals said they are dismayed that he appears to have turned his back on an agenda that he previously championed. However, the Archbishop’s comments have received strong support from traditionalists.

The Archbishop said that he was determined to preserve the unity of the church from being destroyed by the warring factions in the homosexual crisis. He said he has backed a resolution which says that homosexual practice is incompatible with the Bible.

Source: Telegraph UK

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GERMAN CHANCELLOR DETERMINED TO INCLUDE VALUES IN NEW EUROPEAN UNION CONSTITUTION

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared that Europe’s Christian values should be enshrined in a new version of the EU Constitution.

After a meeting with Pope Benedict, Merkel said, “We spoke about freedom of religion. We spoke about the role of Europe and I emphasized the need for a constitution and that it should refer to our Christian values.” The Chancellor will take charge of efforts to revive the Constitution when Germany assumes the EU’s rotating presidency this year. The daughter of a Protestant pastor, Merkel is determined to reopen the debate when she tries to revive the Constitution, reportedly a controversial move in itself because many EU leaders want a slimmed down document after last year’s no votes.

Reporter Nicholas Watt also noted that Mrs. Merkel “is leader of the strongly Catholic CDU party whose most senior figure in Brussels is determined to include a reference to God in the new Constitution.”

Source: The Guardian Unlimited

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BOOK CHARACTERS CONVERT TO ISLAM

Pinocchio, Tom Sawyer and other characters have been converted to Islam in new versions of 100 classic stories on the Turkish school curriculum. In The Three Musketeers, D’Artagnan is told he cannot visit Aramis. The reason would make the author, Alexandre Dumas, turn in his grave. An old woman explains: “He is surrounded by men of religion. He converted to Islam after his illness.”

Tom Sawyer may have shirked his homework, but he is more conscientious with his Islamic prayers. He is given a “special treat” for learning Arabic words. Other books altered include Johanna Spyri’s Heidi and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. The clumsy insertions by Islamic publishing houses have caused controversy in Turkey, which has been a strongly secular state since the 1920s. The Education Minister, Huseyin Celik, blasted publishers and threatened legal action for use of the ministry’s logo without approval. The Government only approved the book titles, not the altered versions, he said.

Source: Telegraph UK

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